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Questions and Answers
What aspect of facial features is suggested to be recognized at a coarse level by infants?
What aspect of facial features is suggested to be recognized at a coarse level by infants?
- Detailed wrinkles and textures
- Subtle color variations
- Facial symmetry
- Coarse lines and low spatial frequency (correct)
Which of the following accurately describes how infants seem to perceive gender from facial features?
Which of the following accurately describes how infants seem to perceive gender from facial features?
- They can easily distinguish all gender expressions.
- They show no preference for one gender over another.
- They primarily focus on emotional cues rather than gender. (correct)
- They prefer faces that align with traditional gender norms.
Which factor is believed to influence how luminance affects the perception of faces?
Which factor is believed to influence how luminance affects the perception of faces?
- The colors used in facial patterns
- The intensity contrast between features (correct)
- The angle of light coming from below
- The overall shape of the face
What is a common outcome of using caricatures in face recognition tasks?
What is a common outcome of using caricatures in face recognition tasks?
What does prosopagnosia reveal about face recognition mechanisms in the brain?
What does prosopagnosia reveal about face recognition mechanisms in the brain?
What aspect of face recognition do adults show a preference for?
What aspect of face recognition do adults show a preference for?
At what age do children begin to show a tendency toward preference for inner features in face recognition?
At what age do children begin to show a tendency toward preference for inner features in face recognition?
Which method was used to categorize face stimuli in the study?
Which method was used to categorize face stimuli in the study?
In face recognition, which spatial frequency is better at detecting expressiveness?
In face recognition, which spatial frequency is better at detecting expressiveness?
What is a characteristic of the module responsible for face perception?
What is a characteristic of the module responsible for face perception?
Which statement is true regarding the contrast between male and female faces?
Which statement is true regarding the contrast between male and female faces?
How do children primarily judge similarity in faces according to the findings?
How do children primarily judge similarity in faces according to the findings?
What does high reliability of judgments of femininity correlate with?
What does high reliability of judgments of femininity correlate with?
What is primarily encoded about a face during recognition?
What is primarily encoded about a face during recognition?
Which regions are most important for face identification?
Which regions are most important for face identification?
How do caricatures compare to veridical images in terms of recognition accuracy?
How do caricatures compare to veridical images in terms of recognition accuracy?
What evidence supports the understanding of facial features in recognition?
What evidence supports the understanding of facial features in recognition?
What is the role of the Fusiform Face Area (FFA)?
What is the role of the Fusiform Face Area (FFA)?
What happens to facial recognition ability in prosopagnosia patients?
What happens to facial recognition ability in prosopagnosia patients?
In individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, what happens to their ability to recognize emotions?
In individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, what happens to their ability to recognize emotions?
Which of the following areas is involved in face identification alongside the Fusiform Face Area?
Which of the following areas is involved in face identification alongside the Fusiform Face Area?
What effect does masking have on face recognition?
What effect does masking have on face recognition?
Which cortical area is specifically activated for faces in humans?
Which cortical area is specifically activated for faces in humans?
What is one key characteristic that differentiates faces from many other objects?
What is one key characteristic that differentiates faces from many other objects?
Babies under three months can recognize face features at a fine spatial frequency.
Babies under three months can recognize face features at a fine spatial frequency.
What visual acuity does 20/20 vision indicate?
What visual acuity does 20/20 vision indicate?
The __________ experiment demonstrated that most babies do not crawl toward their mothers on the drop-off side.
The __________ experiment demonstrated that most babies do not crawl toward their mothers on the drop-off side.
Match the following visual acuity ratios with their descriptions:
Match the following visual acuity ratios with their descriptions:
What feature do children tend to focus on in faces as they begin to recognize them?
What feature do children tend to focus on in faces as they begin to recognize them?
Monkeys raised by humans can distinguish between new human and monkey faces after being deprived of visual exposure.
Monkeys raised by humans can distinguish between new human and monkey faces after being deprived of visual exposure.
What is the face triangle in face recognition?
What is the face triangle in face recognition?
In face perception, infants imitate facial expressions due to a hardwired mechanism known as _______.
In face perception, infants imitate facial expressions due to a hardwired mechanism known as _______.
Match the following findings related to face recognition with the correct description:
Match the following findings related to face recognition with the correct description:
What percentage of adults correctly identified faces when inner features were blurred but outer features remained intact?
What percentage of adults correctly identified faces when inner features were blurred but outer features remained intact?
Children and adolescents tend to prefer inner features in face recognition.
Children and adolescents tend to prefer inner features in face recognition.
What developmental trend is suggested about facial recognition as one matures?
What developmental trend is suggested about facial recognition as one matures?
Face perception is believed to be a __________ cognitive system.
Face perception is believed to be a __________ cognitive system.
What type of spatial frequency is better for detecting expressiveness in facial expressions?
What type of spatial frequency is better for detecting expressiveness in facial expressions?
Match the following characteristics with the corresponding spatial frequency type:
Match the following characteristics with the corresponding spatial frequency type:
Facial contrast is positively correlated with rated masculinity of male faces.
Facial contrast is positively correlated with rated masculinity of male faces.
At what age do children typically begin to show a tendency towards preference for inner features in face recognition?
At what age do children typically begin to show a tendency towards preference for inner features in face recognition?
Which brain area is most affected by Alzheimer's in relation to semantic memory?
Which brain area is most affected by Alzheimer's in relation to semantic memory?
Facial expression identification is never impaired, regardless of facial recognition ability.
Facial expression identification is never impaired, regardless of facial recognition ability.
What type of tests were administered to evaluate emotion identification in subjects?
What type of tests were administered to evaluate emotion identification in subjects?
The perception of emotions is __________, indicating that individuals see faces as either one emotion or another rather than an intermediate emotion.
The perception of emotions is __________, indicating that individuals see faces as either one emotion or another rather than an intermediate emotion.
Match the following tests with their outcomes:
Match the following tests with their outcomes:
In the context of face perception, which of the following emotions was recognized linearly in the study?
In the context of face perception, which of the following emotions was recognized linearly in the study?
The boundary between emotional categories is easier to detect than within the same category.
The boundary between emotional categories is easier to detect than within the same category.
What fundamental form of communication is exemplified by facial expressions?
What fundamental form of communication is exemplified by facial expressions?
What is the primary reason caricatures lead to better recognition?
What is the primary reason caricatures lead to better recognition?
Masked faces improve the ability to identify individuals.
Masked faces improve the ability to identify individuals.
Name the brain area that shows greater activation for faces than other objects.
Name the brain area that shows greater activation for faces than other objects.
The inability to recognize faces while still recognizing objects is known as _____ .
The inability to recognize faces while still recognizing objects is known as _____ .
Match the following symptoms with their descriptions related to prosopagnosia:
Match the following symptoms with their descriptions related to prosopagnosia:
Which facial features are crucial for face identification?
Which facial features are crucial for face identification?
Young babies prefer face-like patterns over random patterns.
Young babies prefer face-like patterns over random patterns.
What phenomenon depicts the preference for upright face orientations in recognition?
What phenomenon depicts the preference for upright face orientations in recognition?
The condition caused by lesions in the brain areas responsible for face recognition is called _____.
The condition caused by lesions in the brain areas responsible for face recognition is called _____.
What effect do caricatures have compared to anti-caricatures in recognition tasks?
What effect do caricatures have compared to anti-caricatures in recognition tasks?
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Study Notes
Face Recognition - Adults vs. Children
- Adults prefer inner features when recognizing faces
- Children prefer outer features when recognizing faces
- Adults correctly identified faces with outer features blurred, more often than inner features blurred
- Children preferred faces with inner features blurred
- Children fail to disregard external features when judging face similarity
- Adolescents between 14-15 years old show a tendency to prefer inner features
- Children and adults spend more time looking at internal facial features, but children rely on external features for similarity judgments
Face Recognition Development
- Infants show preference for faces and face-like patterns from birth
- Monkeys demonstrate face discrimination, suggesting a biological mechanism for face recognition
- Face recognition develops from recognizing outer features to inner features
Modularity of Face Perception
- Face recognition is a domain-specific cognitive system - a module
- Modules are informationally encapsulated, autonomous, fast, mandatory, and neurologically distinct
Spatial Frequency
- High spatial frequency (HSF) processes fine lines and details
- Low spatial frequency (LSF) processes coarse features and layout
- Expressiveness is better detected in HSF than neutral faces
- Actual expression (happy or sad) is better detected in LSF
Luminance
- Contrast between skin and facial features is greater in females, independent of ethnicity or pigmentation
- Facial contrast is positively correlated with rated femininity of female faces
Face Recognition Research Questions
- Is face recognition a specialized system or an example of a general object recognition system?
- How do we recognize faces?
- How early in life do we prefer to look at faces?
- What do we look at in a face?
- How do faces communicate emotional states?
- What is attractive about a face?
- What does prosopagnosia tell us about face recognition?
Infant Perception
- Acuity (resolution) is the smallest spatial details the visual system can resolve
- Newborns can discriminate fine lines at a distance of 1 foot
- Faces are only recognized in coarse lines (low spatial frequency) within the first 3 months
- Enhanced features lead to better and faster recognition
What We Encode About Faces
- We encode features, specifically eyes and mouth
- Margaret Thatcher illusion proves eyes and mouth convey main facial characteristics
- Masked faces hinder identification, with mouth and eye regions being most important for identification, expressiveness, and gender identification
Face Area
- The “middle face patch” in monkeys corresponds to the Fusiform Face Area (FFA) in humans
- FFA is located in the right fusiform gyrus at the occipito-temporal area
- FFA shows greater activation for faces than other objects
- The right FFA shows stronger activation for faces
- Areas involved in face identification include FFA, superior temporal sulcus (STS), lateral occipital cortex (LOC), and inferior temporal cortex (IT)
Evidence for Modularity - Object vs. Face Recognition
- Primates show distinct cortical areas for objects and faces
- Babies have a strong preference for face-like patterns
- Adults have strong FFA activation for faces, with functional and anatomical differences
- Brain damage is selective: prosopagnosia (face recognition deficit) occurs without inanimate object agnosia
Prosopagnosia
- Impaired recognition of family faces, own face, and famous faces
- Familiar people are recognized by other cues like voice, context, and description
- Emotion recognition is preserved
- Patients lack visual/perceptual disability
- Ability to recognize facial features is preserved
- Common symptom: inability to recognize animal faces
- Ability to recognize emotions in faces is preserved
- Lesion: generally right occipital/temporal lobes, specifically FFA
- Covert face recognition can occur, without explicit, overt recognition
Alzheimer's Disease
- Loss of intellectual functions
- General deterioration of semantic systems
- Affects temporal, parietal, and frontal lobes
- Probable Alzheimer’s Disease patients show similar patterns of dissociation between faces and emotion expression
What is Special About a Face?
- Faces are constantly changing and convey different meanings, unlike other objects.
Face Recognition/Perception Research Questions
- Researchers investigate how faces are recognized, the development of face perception, and what aspects of faces communicate emotional states.
Infant Perception
- Visual Acuity: Infants can discriminate coarse lines initially, with visual acuity improving over the first few months.
- Face Discrimination: Newborns can discriminate faces based on low spatial frequencies.
- Visual Cliff Experiment: Most 7-month-old babies hesitate to crawl towards their mothers on a "drop-off" side of the table.
Children
- Preference for Faces: Infants show a preference for face-like patterns within weeks of birth.
- Focus on Features: Children focus on external facial features initially, shifting towards internal features around the age of 14-15.
- Monkey Experiment: Monkeys deprived of face exposure in infancy can still discriminate faces, suggesting a biological predisposition for face recognition.
Face Proprioception
- Facial Imitation: Infants imitate facial expressions, indicating a hardwired mechanism of face proprioception.
What Do We Look for in Faces?
- Face Triangle: Both eyes and nose are key features.
- Inner vs. Outer Features: Adults tend to focus more on internal facial features for recognition, while children prioritize external features.
Recognition
- Modularity of Face Perception: Face recognition is a domain-specific cognitive system, operating autonomously and quickly.
- Spatial Frequency: Low spatial frequencies are associated with layout and overall features, high frequencies with finer details and expression.
- Luminance: High contrast between skin and facial features is associated with increased femininity.
- Enhanced Features: Caricatures, with exaggerated features, enhance recognition accuracy.
What do We Encode About a Face?
- Features: We encode features, particularly eyes and mouth, which convey critical information about identity and expressions.
- Masked Face Recognition: Masking facial features hinders identification, emphasizing the importance of eyes and mouth.
Brain Areas Involved
- Fusiform Face Area (FFA): Located in the right fusiform gyrus, the FFA is highly responsive to faces.
- Superior Temporal Sulcus (STS): Plays a role in processing social cues and facial expressions.
- Lateral Occipital Cortex (LOC) and Inferotemporal Cortex (IT): Implicated in object recognition, including faces and places.
Prosopagnosia
- General Symptoms: Inability to recognize faces, including family members, own face, and famous people.
- Intact Visual System: Prosopagnosia results from damage to brain areas responsible for integrating face features, not from general visual impairment.
- Lesion Location: Usually in the right occipital/temporal lobes, including the FFA.
- Preserved Recognition: Prosopagnosia patients can often recognize emotions in faces.
Alzheimer's Disease
- Semantic Deterioration: Alzheimer's patients often struggle with face recognition due to general deterioration of semantic systems.
- Emotion Recognition: Alzheimer's patients may show reduced ability to recognize emotions in faces, while still being able to identify facial features.
Faces and Emotion Expression
- Categorical Perception of Emotions: Emotion perception is not linear, but categorical, with differences between emotions being more easily detected at category boundaries.
Face and Sexual Attraction
- Attractiveness: There is a significant interest in understanding what makes a face attractive.
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